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AGRICULTURAL 
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UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 

Agricultural  Experiment  Station 


BULLETIN  No.  214 


SPRING  WHEAT  FOR  ILLINOIS 


BY  W.  L.  BUELISON  AND  E.  W.  STARK 


URBANA,  ILLINOIS,  FEBRUARY,  1919 


SUMMARY  OF  BULLETIN  No.  214 

CULTURE  OF  SPRING  WHEAT. — The  cultural  requirements  of  spring  wheat  are 
very  much  the  same  as  for  winter  wheat.  Page  315 

TIME  TO  Sow  SPRING  WHEAT. — Spring  wheat  should  be  seeded  early.    Page  315 

FOUR-INCH  AND,  EIGHT-INCH  DRILLS  COMPARED. — In  so  far  as  these  experi- 
ments go,  there  is  no  evidence  that  the  four-inch  drill  possesses  any  advantages 
over  the  eight-inch  drill,  with  the  ordinary  rate  of  seeding.  Page  316 

VARIETY  TESTS. — At  Urbana,  in  central  Illinois,  Illinois  No.  1  has  out- 
yielded  other  varieties  of  spring  wheat.  At  DeKalb,  In  northern  Illinois,  Marquis 
has  given  better  yields  than  other  spring  varieties.  Page  317 

YIELDS  AND  VALUE  OF  SPRING  WHEAT  AS  COMPARED  WITH  OTHER  GRAINS. — 
In  central  Illinois  spring  wheat  will  not  produce  as  large,  yields  as  will  the  hardy 
varieties  of  winter  wheat. 

Owing  to  the  very  serious  partial  winter-killing  of  fall-sown  varieties  of 
wheat  at  DeKalb,  Marquis  spring  wheat  has  made  a  four-year  average  yield  of 
2.5  bushels  per  acre  in  excess  of  Turkey  Bed,  which  is  one  of  the  hardiest  of  the 
winter  varieties. 

At  Urbana,  in  central  Illinois,  Turkey  Bed  winter  wheat,  Oderbrucker  barley, 
and  Sixty  Day  oats  have  given  greater  monetary  returns  per  acre  than  any  spring 
wheat.  At  DeKalb,  in  northern  Illinois,  Wisconsin  Pedigree  barley  has  given 
better  returns  than  any  other  spring-sown  crop.  Page  318 


SPRING  WHEAT  FOR  ILLINOIS 

BY  W.  L.  BUELISON,  CHIEF  IN  CROP  PRODUCTION,  AND 
E.  W.  STABK,  FIRST  ASSISTANT  IN  CROP  PRODUCTION 

Within  the  last  two  years  there  has  been  a  revival  of  interest 
in  spring  wheat,  particularly  in  northern  and  to  a  lesser  extent  in 
central  Illinois.  The  chief  reason  for  this  is  the  great  demand  for 
wheat  made  upon  the  American  farmer  by  the  war. 

For  the  last  two  years  the  yields  of  spring  wheat  have  been  very 
encouraging ;  in  fact,  they  have  been  better  than  had  been  expected. 
Spring  wheat  was  grown  quite  commonly  in  northern  Illinois  many 
years  ago,  but  for  some  reason  not  clear  to  all  the  practice  was  aban- 
doned. For  the  central  part  of  the  state  it  would  be  unwise  to  be 
too  enthusiastic  about  its  production. 

Spring  Wheat  Sections  in  Illinois. — For  its  best  development, 
spring  wheat  requires  a  cool  climate.  Roughly  speaking,  the  thirty- 
five  counties  in  northern  Illinois  can  safely  include  spring  wheat  in 
their  systems  of  farming.  Counties  north  of  a  line  drawn  between 
the  southern  boundaries  of  Kankakee  and  Mercer  counties  may  be 
included  in  the  primary  spring-wheat  belt  of  Illinois.  Counties  north 
of  a  line  drawn  between  the  southern  boundaries  of  Edgar  and  Pike 
counties  and  south  of  the  line  mentioned  above  have  produced  very 
satisfactory  spring  wheat  for  the  last  two  years. 

CULTURE  OF  SPRING  WHEAT 

The  cultural  requirements  of  spring  wheat  are  very  much  the  same 
as  for  winter  wheat.  When  spring  wheat  follows  a  small  grain  crop, 
fall  plowing  is  certainly  the  best  practice.  This  practice  makes  pos- 
sible very  much  earlier  seeding  than  would  be  possible  if  the  land  had 
to  be  plowed  in  the  spring.  The  preparation  of  fall-plowed  land  is 
the  same  for  spring  wheat  as  it  would  be  for  any  other  spring-sown 
small  grain.  If  spring  wheat  is  to  be  seeded  on  stalk  land,  it  would 
seem  to  be  best  to  disk  the  land  thoroly  and  seed  then,  rather  than 
delay  seeding  for  very  long  in  order  to  plow. 

TIME  TO  SOW  SPRING  WHEAT 

Spring  wheat  should  be  sown  early.  In  1918  trials  were  made  at 
Urbana,  in  central  Illinois,  to  determine  the  effect  of  time  of  seeding 
upon  the  yield  and  quality  of  the  crop.  The  varieties  used  were  Illi- 
nois No.  1  and  Marquis.  The  wheat  was  sown  on  ground  that  had 
been  fall-plowed.  At  the  time  of  the  first  sowing,  the  seed  bed  was  in 
poor  condition. 

315 


316 


BULLETIN    JSiO.    214 


[February, 


TABLE  1. — EFFECT  OF  DATE  OF  SOWING  UPON  THE  YIELD  AND  QUALITY  OF 

SPRING  WHEAT 


Plot 

Date  of  planting 

Illinois  No.l 

Marquis 

Bushels 
per 
acre 

Weight 
per 
bushel 

Percent- 
age 
scab 

Bushels 
per 
acre 

Weight 
per 
bushel 

Percent- 
age 
scab 

1 

2 
3 
4 

March     6  

bu. 
28.9 
23.5 
21.8 

/6s. 
60.8 
59.4 
58.8 

percent. 
1.0 
.8 
5.6 

bu. 
29.6 
27.3 
23.8 
22.2 

ibs. 
59.0 
58.0 
56.5 
54.8 

percent. 
2.0 
6.0 
7.4 
14.8 

March  16  

March  29  

April      10  

The  earliest  seeding  gave  the  highest  yield  with  both  varieties. 
Each  successive  seeding  produced  consistently  lower  yields.  The  qual- 
ity of  the  crop  was  also  materially  affected  by  the  time  of  seeding. 
Without  exception,  the  later  the  seeding  the  lower  the  weight  per 
bushel.  Scab  (Fusarium  roseum)  affected  the  grain  from  each  seeding, 
but  the  early-sown  wheat  was  much  less  affected.  Illinois  No.  1  showed 
considerably  less  infection  than  did  Marquis. 

These  results  constitute  the  data  obtained  in  only  one  year's  work, 
but  since  they  are  so  consistent  they  deserve  consideration. 

FOUR-INCH  AND  EIGHT-INCH  DRILLS  COMPARED 

In  recent  years  there  has  been  considerable  discussion  about  the 
value  of  the  drill  which  plants  the  grain  in  rows  4  inches  apart,  as 
compared  with  the  drill  commonly  used  which  distributes  the  same 
amount  of  grain  per  acre,  in  rows  7  to  8  inches  apart.  Table  2  gives 
some  information  on  this  point. 

At  DeKalb  the  wheat  was  sown  in  four-inch  drill  rows  in  1916 
and  1918  by  using  an  ordinary  eight-inch  drill  and  "  splitting  the 
middles"  the  second  round.  In  1917  the  four-inch  rows  were  seeded 
with  a  regular  four-inch  drill.  The  eight-inch  rows  were  sown  with 
the  same  drill  by  stopping  every  other  cup  and  doubling  the  rate 
of  seeding.  At  Urbana  the  four-inch  drill  was  used  both  in  1917  and 
in  1918  in  the  same  manner  as  described  for  DeKalb  in  1917. 

With  the  exception  of  the  first  year  during  which  the  experi- 
ment was  tried  at  DeKalb,  the  eight-inch  rows  gave  slightly  greater 

TABLE  2. — COMPARISON  OF  YIELDS  OF  SPRING  WHEAT  OBTAINED  BY  SOWING  IN 

FOUR-INCH  AND  IN  EIGHT-INCH  DRILL  Rows1 

(Bushels  per  acre) 


DeKalb 

Urbana 

1916 

1917 

1918 

Average 

1917 

1918 

Average 

Four-inch  drill  rows  

36.3 
34.7 

22.8 
24.1 

27.5 
31.2 

28.9 
30.0 

32.2 
33.0 

23.9 
25.3 

28.0 
29.1 

Eight-inch  drill  rows  

xThe  yields  given  in  this  table  are  the  averages  of  four  trials  each  year,  with 
the  exception  of  those  for  Urbana,  1918.  For  that  year  the  figures  both  for  the 
four-inch  and  the  eight-inch  drill  rows  (standard  rate  of  seeding)  are  the  averages 
of  three  trials. 


19W] 


SPRING  WHEAT  FOB  ILLINOIS 


317 


yields  on  both  fields.  The  average  yield  at  DeKalb  for  the  three 
years  was  1.1  bushels  per  acre  in  favor  of  the  eight-inch  rows.  At 
Urbana  the  average  for  two  years  was  also  1.1  bushels  per  acre  in 
favor  of  the  eight-inch  rows. 

Altho  it  is  not  yet  possible  to  submit  sufficient  data  upon  which 
to  base  statements  regarding  the  relative  desirability  of  different  rates 
of  seeding,  the  present  available  information  indicates  that  when 
the  eight-inch  drill  is  used  for  spring  wheat,  a  satisfactory  rate  of 
seeding  is  from  one  and  one-half  to  two  bushels  per  acre. 

VARIETY"  TESTS 

CENTRAL  ILLINOIS 

TESTS  AT  URBANA,  IN  CHAMPAIGN  COUNTY 

The  Illinois  Experiment  Station  began  a  study  of  spring  wheat  at 
Urbana,  in  Champaign  county,  in  1912.  In  that  year  the  Station 
obtained  some  spring  wheat  from  a  Champaign  county  farmer  who 
had  grown  spring  wheat  with  considerable  success  for  a  number  of 
years.  The  original  name  of  the  variety  is  unknown.  This  wheat 
proved  to  be  of  sufficient  worth  in  the  trials  to  warrant  distributing 
the  surplus  on  a  small  scale  in  1917.  This  variety  has  been  designated 
as  "Illinois  No.  I."1  It  is  a  bearded  variety  and  produces  rather 
large,  long  heads.  The  straw  is  somewhat  coarse  and  inclined  to  lodge. 

The  other  three  varieties ;  namely,  Marquis,  Red  Fife,  and  Durum, 
were  introduced  into  the  trials  in  1915.  The  yearly  yields  and  the 
average  yield  of  each  variety  for  the  last  four  years  are  reported  in 
Table  3. 

Illinois  No.  1  gave  an  average  yield  for  the  last  four  years  of 
29.3  bushels  per  acre,  which  is  4.7  bushels  per  acre  more  than  was 
made  by  Durum  wheat,  its  closest  competitor,  and  7.9  bushels  per 
acre  more  than  Red  Fife.  Marquis  produced  almost  5  bushels  less 
than  Illinois  No.  1. 

TABLE  3. — YIELDS  OF  VARIETIES  OF  SPRING  WHEAT  GROWN  AT  URBANA ' 
(Bushels  per  acre) 


Variety 

1912 

1913 

1914 

1915 

1916 

1917 

1918 

Average  for 
last  four 
years 

Illinois  No.  1  .... 
Durum  

24.7 

18.2 

13.9 

19.6 
14  4 

27.9 
24  6 

43.1 
31  9 

26.7 
27  6 

29.3 
24  6 

Marquis  

14  6 

21  8 

36  3 

25  1 

24  4 

Red  Fife  

6.4 

18.3 

36.6 

24.5 

21.4 

1The  yields  reported  are  the  average  of  two  trials  of  each  variety  in  1915  and 
1916,  and  of  four  trials  in  1917  and  1918. 


"'Illinois  No.  1"  is  a  tentative  name  for  this  variety  of  spring  wheat;  in 
Bulletin  195  it  is  described  as  "home-grown." 


BULLETIN  No.  214 


NORTHERN  ILLINOIS 
TESTS  AT  DEKALB,  IN  DEKALB  COUNTY 

Spring  wheat  has  been  grown  on  the  crop  experiment  field  at 
DeKalb  since  1907.  In  the  early  years  a  number  of  varieties  were 
tried.  Of  this  number  Kubanka  and  Saskatchewan  Fife  were  the 
only  ones  grown  for  a  period  of  more  than  two  years.  These  varieties 
appeared  to  be  about  equally  adapted  to  northern  Illinois,  and  under 
favorable  conditions  made  quite  satisfactory  yields.  A  rather  more 
systematic  study  of  the  adaptability  of  spring  wheat  for  northern 
Illinois  was  begun  in  1915.  That  year  Marquis  and  Blue  Stem 
were  introduced,  and  two  years  later  Durum  and  Illinois  No.  1.  Table 
4  gives  the  yields  of  these  varieties. 

TABLE  4. — YIELDS  OP  SPRING  WHEAT  GROWN  AT  DEKALB  l 
(Bushels  per  acre) 


Variety 

1915 

1916 

1917 

1918 

Four-year 
average 

Two-year 
average 

Marquis  

30.6 

34.7 

32.0 

42.0 

34.  * 

37.0 

Blue  Stem  

19.6 

21.3 

28.4 

29.6 

24.7 

29.0 

Durum  

17.2 

44.4 

30.8 

Illinois  No.  1  ... 

20.5 

37.5 

29.0 

1The  yields  reported  are  the  average  of  four  trials  each  year. 

It  will  be  noted  that  the  average  yield  of  Marquis  for  the  four 
years  was  34.8  bushels  per  acre,  which  is  10.1  bushels  per  acre  more 
than  the  yield  of  Blue  Stem  for  the  same  period.  The  average 
yield  of  Marquis  for  the  two  years  1917  and  1918  was  37  bushels 
per  acre.  Durum  ranked  second,  with  an  average  yield  of  30.8  bushels 
per  acre,  and  Blue  Stem  and  Illinois  No.  1  each  produced  an  average 
of  29  bushels  per  acre. 

YIELDS  AND  VALUE  OF  SPRING  WHEAT  AS  COMPARED 
WITH  OTHER  GRAINS 

The  data  given  in  the  following  tables  are  suggestive  of  the  rela- 
tive monetary  value  of  spring  wheat  as  compared  with  several  of 
the  other  commonly  grown  grain  crops  (winter  wheat,  oats,  and 
barley).  The  values  are  based  upon  the  average  August  price  on 
the  Chicago  market  for  the  ten  years  ending  1913.  These  prices  were : 
wheat,  92.3  cents  per  bushel ;  oats,  37.8  cents ;  and  barley,  60.2  cents. 
Since  the  beginning  of  the  war,  prices  have  become  unusually  high 
and  so  subjected  to  arbitrary  control  that  recent  values  afford  no 
satisfactory  basis  for  comparison. 

In  the  Urbana  trials,  Turkey  Red  winter  wheat  gave  a  four-year 
average  yield  of  44.6  bushels  per  acre  valued  at  $41.16,  while  Illinois 


1919] 


SPRING  WHEAT  FOR  ILLINOIS 


319 


No.  1,  the  best  yielding  variety  of  spring  wheat,  produced  29.3  bushels 
per  acre  worth  $27.04.  Oderbrucker  barley  produced  57.2  bushels  per 
acre  and  ranked  second  in  the  value  of  the  crop.  Sixty  Day  oats 
ranked  third,  and  Illinois  No.  1,  fourth. 

TABLE  5. — URBANA:  YIELD  AND  VALCTE  OF  SPRING  WHEAT  AS  COMPARED  WITH 
TURKEY  RED  WINTER  WHEAT,  SIXTY  DAY  OATS,  AND  ODERBRUCKER  BARLEY 


Variety 

Four-year  average,  1915-1918 

Bushels  per  acre 

Value  per  acre 

Illinois  No.  1  

29.3 
24.6 
24.4 
21.4 
44.6 
78.5 
57.2 

$27.04 
22.70 
22.52 
19.75 
41.16 
29.67 
34.43 

Durum  

Marquis  

Red  Fife  

Turkey  Red  (winter)  

Sixty  Day  oats  

Oderbrucker  barley  

The  spring  grains  were  grown  in  a  four-year  rotation  of  clover 
or  soybeans,  corn,  corn,  and  spring  cereals.  The  Turkey  Eed  winter 
wheat  was  grown  in  a  four-year  rotation  of  clover,  wheat,  corn,  and 
oats.  The  comparison  is  not  entirely  fair  for  the  spring  cereals,  since 
in. the  rotation  in  which  they  are  grown  they  are  removed  as  far  as 
the  system  will  permit  from  the  legume  crop,  while  the  winter  wheat 
immediately  follows  the  legume  crop.  There  is  also  some  difference  in 
type  of  soil  composing  the  fields  devoted  to  the  two  rotations. 

Notwithstanding  the  above  mentioned  advantages  which  the  winter 
wheat  has  over  the  spring  wheat,  the  comparison  is  instructive. 

TABLE  6. — DEKALB:    YIELD  AND  VALUE  OF  SPRING  WHEAT  AS  COMPARED  WITH 

TURKEY  RED  WINTER  WHEAT,  SWEDISH  SELECT  OATS,  AND 

WISCONSIN  PEDIGREE  BARLEY 


Variety 

Four-year  average, 
1915-1918 

Two-year  average, 
1917-1918 

Bushels 
per  acre 

Value 
per  acre 

Bushels 
per  acre 

Value 
per  acre 

Marqius  

34.8 
24.7 

$32.12 
22.80 

37.0 
29.0 
30.8 
29.0 
26.3 
75.4 
69.3 

$34.15 
26.77 
28.43 
26.77 
24.27 
28.50 
41.72 

Blue  Stem  

Durum  

Illinois  No.  1  

29!  si 

26.00 
37.87 

Turkey  Red  (winter)  

32.3 

68.8 
62.9 

Swedish  Select  oats  

Wisconsin  Pedigree  barley.  .  .  . 

At  DeKalb,  Marquis  spring  wheat  gave  a  four-year  average  of 
34.8  bushels  per  acre,  which  is  2.5  bushels  per  acre  more  than  was 
yielded  by  Turkey  Red.  Assuming  the  grade  to  be  the  same,  the 
Marquis  wheat  was  worth  $2.31  more  per  acre.  During  the  last  two 
years  (1917  and  1918),  Marquis  yielded  on  the  average  37  bushels 
per  acre,  or  10.7  bushels  per  acre  more  than  Turkey  Red,  and  was 
worth  $9.88  more  per  acre.  Wisconsin  Pedigree  barley  proved  the 
best  paying  crop  of  the  several  cereals  tried. 


320 

These  grains  were  grown  in  a  four-year  rotation  consisting  of 
clover,  corn,  spring  cereals,  and  winter  wheat.  They  were  all  grown 
in  the  same  rotation,  where  the  land  received  the  same  soil  treatment. 

Perhaps  an  even  more  direct  comparison  of  the  relative  value 
of  spring  and  winter  wheat  may  be  shown  by  the  experience  of  the 
last  two  seasons  (1917  and  1918)  at  DeKalb  on  certain  plots  devoted 
to  winter  wheat.  Certain  varieties  of  the  winter  wheat  were  so 
seriously  winter-killed  that  it  was  necessary  to  disk  them  up  in  the 
spring  and  to  sow  spring  wheat  in  their  stead.  The  Marquis  variety 
of  spring  wheat  was  used  for  this  purpose.  The  yields  of  Marquis 
so  substituted,  and  of  Turkey  Red,  one  of  the  winter  varieties  which 
survived,  grown  on  the  same  series  of  plots,  were  as  follows :  In  1917 : 
Marquis,  24.6  bushels  per  acre ;  Turkey  Red,  29.7  bushels.  In  1918 : 
Marquis,  36.1  bushels;  Turkey  Red,  22.9  bushels.  The  averages  for 
the  two  years  show  Marquis  yielding  30.3  bushels  -per  acre,  as  com- 
pared with  26.3  bushels  produced  by  Turkey  Red. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBAN/* 


